


All The Best Intentions

by Hodgeheg002



Series: All The Best [1]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Conspiracy Theories, Copious amounts of tea, Espionage, F/M, Interrogation, Not much but it's there, Scott's trying his best, Violence, hostages, oh and swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:53:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23277397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hodgeheg002/pseuds/Hodgeheg002
Summary: It was for the best and Penelope knows that, had analysed it from every angle, but as she flew away from Tracy Island and Gordon, she truly hoped she hadn't made a mistake.
Relationships: Penelope Creighton-Ward/Gordon Tracy
Series: All The Best [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876195
Comments: 65
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

Gordon was slumped dejectedly in his chair, one hand supporting his head and the other tracing beads of condensation that trailed down the side of the glass of beer Scott had put in front of him a few moments before. Gordon didn’t really want it, the thought of drinking anything at odds with the tight knot that had become his stomach, but Scott hadn’t asked him. He sat opposite Gordon, watching him, an odd expression on his face. It was a mix of pity and exasperation and maybe even amusement, but none of that really mattered because Scott had never had his heart so effectively trampled on. The only brother who really had this sort of experience was Virgil; Alan was too much like Scott and John didn’t date. But Virgil was busy and of the three other brothers, Gordon had called Scott, voice choking and spitting with the rage and grief that made up heartbreak. Scott, bless his soul, had raced back to Tracy Island, scooped up his younger brother, and flown them back to the mainland, barely pausing to change out of his uniform. He’d informed John that he and Gordon would be off rotation for the next twenty four hours, before taking Gordon to a seedy little pub that Scott reserved for truly bad days.

“So what happened?” Scott asked, rousing Gordon from his contemplation. Gordon’s expression shifted and twisted.

“I think we broke up,” he said eventually. “Like, actually broke up. As in she took off back to England and I don’t think she’ll ever come back broke up.”

Scott was lost for words. Gordon and Penelope did fight, but it was the bickering type of fighting that didn’t result in one of them leaving. Whatever the two had been arguing about this time was serious, and it had serious consequences. Aside from the obvious heartbreak that Gordon was obviously suffering, there was also the issue of security and intelligence. It was unclear if Lady Penelope would want to continue working with them; sure, she was a professional and tended to act as such, but it wasn’t as if there was a business contract between them. She could quite easily walk away from them.

Kayo was going to be furious.

“What did you fight about?” Soctt asked, hoping there was some way to salvage the relationship and that Gordon was being his usual melodramatic self. Gordon sighed, leaning back in his chair, slouching at such an angle Scott wondered how his spine could function.

“Fuck if I know. It wasn’t even about anything, that’s the worst bit.”

“Hmmm…” Scott trailed off, unsure of what to say. Penelope was almost as logical as John, albeit with greater social dexterity. It was extremely unlikely for her to instigate an argument over ‘nothing’. 

“She was just… just nagging and nitpicking and she wouldn’t stop and it was all over nothing! I just… let’s go home, Scott, shit, I don’t know what happened and I’m not going to figure it out here. She wanted the argument,she chose to leave, she obviously doesn’t care and I’m not going to find the answers here. I want to go home.”

“Gordon-”

“No Scott. It’s over. I’m tired, you’re tired. Let’s go.”

Gordon didn’t wait for Scott to respond, getting up from the table and stalking out. Scott sighed, downing the rest of his lemonade and following after his brother.

***

The trip back to Tracy Island was silent, Scott concentrating on flying and Gordon brooding. As soon as they landed and the plane was once again tucked away in its hangar, Gordon simply vanished, leaving Scott to make his way up to the main villa alone. Virgil, Alan and Kayo were all waiting for him in the den, varying expressions on their faces. Kayo was, as predicted, pissed off, fingers tapping impatiently on her crossed arms. Alan seemed innocently confused, but Scott knew he was just worried and concerned. Virgil’s expression was, inexplicably, relaxed, and Scott was going to have to question that later once he’d had some time to rest and sleep and think about everything that had happened today. The mission from earlier was hitting him, the stress of having to rescue three hikers stuck in a blizzard on top of a mountain followed by the stress of calming a volatile Gordon washing over him now that the adrenaline had dissipated. Scott collapsed into a seat, and he was immensely grateful that he had exceeded his flight hours, giving him an iron tight excuse to not have to don his uniform again for the next twelve hours. Even if John had followed through with pulling him and Gordon off rotation, that was not always an absolute guarantee, as it could be overridden if needed. Grounding due to medical reasons or exceeding the flight limit could not. There would be a debrief, of course, but that would come later when his father and grandmother were back from whatever it was that they were up to on the mainland.

“What happened?” Alan asked, voice small and quiet, trying not to draw attention to the fact that he was breaking the peace that had finally settled over Scott. “We got back and there were broken plates all over the floor.”

“Aw hell. I’m not too sure, to be honest. All I got from Gordon was that he and Penelope had some sort of fight, she’s left, and he thinks it’s over for good.” Scott rubbed his hand over his face. Grandma was going to be pissed about the plates. Virgil scoffed, and Scott looked up, confused.

“They’ve not broken up, they’ll be back together soon enough.”

“I don’t know, Virgil, Gordon seemed pretty insistent that it was over for good this time.”

“Trust me, they’ll fix this. May take a little time, but it’s not permanent.”

“Well I hope you’re right, because we need Lady Penelope. Gordon’s an idiot,” Kayo said icily.

“What makes you think it was Gordon?” Alan asked hotly, always ready to defend a brother. Kayo rolled her eyes.

“It’s Gordon. Statistically speaking, it’s usually his fault.”

“Yeah, somehow I don’t think that’s going to be helpful. Maybe don’t mention that to him,” suggested Scott, and Kayo started to head out of the den.

“Whatever. I’m going to run some damage control. Honestly, this is the last thing I need…” she continued to grumble as she left the room, and Scott released the sigh that had been building since Gordon had first contacted him. Virgil simply slouched into the sofa, tucking his hands behind his head.

“I’m telling you, they’ll be back together soon enough. ‘S nothing to worry about.”

“I hope you’re right Virgil. I really do.”

***

Penelope and Parker’s journey back home was as silent as Scott and Gordon’s. In fact, the only words that had been spoken between the two of them since Penelope had stalked out of the villa was for the instruction to bring the car around. Parker had some idea of what had happened’ although the two had taken their argument somewhere private, the initial blazing row had been loud, Gordon’s gesticulating arms resulting in smashed crockery. Even if Parker hadn’t been within earshot for the first part, the expression on Penelope’s face when she exited the villa had told him everything he had needed to know. Parker had known Lady Penelope for her entire life; he knew that the tautness of her shoulders and clipped tone meant that she was more than upset.

They landed, the grey drizzling skies a world away from the blue tropical climate of the Island. Parker sprang out to hold the door open for Penelope. She lingered for a moment, pausing before going up the stone steps to her Manor’s entrance.

“Cancel all engagements for the rest of the week, Parker. Tell them… tell them I have the flu.”

With that, she swept off into her home, leaving Parker to put FAB1 into the garage, hoping against hopes that everything would work out. Parker wasn’t one to normally side with Gordon, but on this occasion- and judging by the small glimpse of him that Parker had seen before flying off- Parker couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young aquanaut.


	2. Chapter 2

Lady Penelope sat down heavily in her workroom’s desk chair, utterly exhausted. Her work room had originally been her father’s sanctuary, a room high up in the Manor made bright with large windows overlooking the grounds. The entryway was hidden behind a painting tucked away in an antechamber behind a false wall, and it was in this room that Penelope had first been introduced to the secretive world of espionage that she, and her father before her, occupied.

Two of the walls were taken up by bookshelves, the books themselves ranging from history to politics to war strategy to economics. There were priceless editions of works of literature- Dickens, Austen and Bronte among them- as well as philosophical works from Aquinas, Confucius, Wittgenstein and Bentham. One shelf was dedicated to international law, another to jurisprudential teachings by Dworkin and Hart, whilst a third was crammed with further books on cryptography and hacking. There was even a copy of John’s doctoral thesis in the wide ranging library. A large desk dominated the centre of the room, with a further table pushed up against one of the walls with windows. Both the desk and the table, usually free of any form of clutter, were currently strewn with papers, and a large annotated map was perched on one of the two spare chairs, pinned to a noticeboard to prevent the edges from curling inwards.

This room was not normally in such a state of disarray. Even when Penelope was in the middle of an investigation, her work was normally stored digitally and encrypted beyond belief. Not this time, though. This time Penelope could not risk even her encryptions being breached- and the combined resources of her adversaries could make this possible- resulting in her turning to analogue.

All of this was ignored, though. Penelope spun the leather chair so that it was looking out of the window, rather than facing the desk, staring at the grounds as the drizzle turned to rain. There was a knock at the door followed by muffled footsteps as Parker came into the room, hands full with a tea tray. He sat it down on the messy desk and took a step back, watching Penelope intently.

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?” she asked eventually, still looking out at the rain.

“I think that perhaps I’m not the best one to answer that, m’lady.”

Penelope sighed and spun around, reaching over to pour two cups of tea and handing one to Parker. Parker took this as an invitation to join her musing and took the remaining seat opposite her.

“Was it truly necessary, m’lady?” he asked, taking a cautious sip from his cup.

“Of course. These people… they are not in the business of negotiation. Once they discover that I’m onto them- and that will be soon, if they haven’t already- then they will almost certainly target Gordon. This is the only way to protect him, aside from confining him to Tracy Island, and I couldn’t do that to him.”

“But surely-”

“But surely what, Parker? Do you not think that I’ve already considered the option, looked at all the solutions? This was the last thing I wanted to do, but I will do it because it’s the only way to keep him safe. If something happened to him, if they went after him to get to me, I could never forgive myself.”

Penelope took a deep, shuddering breath, looking down at her untouched tea and trying to recompose herself. It was rare that she ever snapped like that, but her emotions were frayed and at tipping point. She was only human, after all.

“I apologise,” she said softly. Parker smiled.

“It’s quite alright, m’lady.”

“No, it’s-” She was cut off by the beeping of her compact and she opened it up to reveal an attempted call from Kayo. Penelope accepted, resting the compact on the desk so that both she and Parker could see Kayo’s small, blue hologram.

“Lady Penelope,” she greeted tersely. “Parker.”

“Did they buy it?” Penelope asked, and Kayo nodded. 

“Yes. Scott and Alan are a bit shocked, Virgil is trying to start a betting pool as to when the two of you will get back together.” Kayo paused. “Gordon’s not speaking to anyone.”

Penelope’s jaw clenched, and she aly her hands flat on the desk the way she always did when trying not to fidget.

“He’ll be okay, m’lady,” Parker reassured. Penelope’s jaw twitched again, before her hands withdrew from the table and she looked up again.

“Of course. What about Jeff? And Grandma Tracy?”

“I’ll inform them of the situation when they return. They’re at the GDF medical facility currently, they’re still trying to determine any adverse effects from Jeff’s eight years in the Oort cloud, but they should be back soon,” Kayo explained. “Although you should probably expect a call from John, once he finds out. He’ll have figured out that something deeper is going on, and you know what he’s like with a puzzle.”

“Too clever and curious for his own good,” Parker supplied, causing Kayo and Penelope to both grin.

“That he is. Thank you, Kayo.”

“Don’t worry about it. My job is to protect them, after all.”

The hologram disappeared and Penelope shut the compact, pushing aside the emotion of the past few hours. She downed the rest of her tea in a decidedly un-ladylike manner, setting the cup back down on the saucer with a soft clink.

“Okay Parker. Time to get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally longer but it made more sense to me to put the first part at the end of the last chapter, so it's a bit shorter now. Also I based the workroom on my own dream study and got over-excited with the books, so apologies for the nerdiness there. It's actually based on a real personal library I saw a few years ago. 
> 
> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments from the last chapter, I'm so glad people are enjoyed it :)


	3. Chapter 3

Kayo’s prediction of John calling came to fruition a few days later. It had been a strange time up on the space station even after Scott and Gordon were back on rotation. The chatter that normally filled the comms was gone, replaced with tentative suggestions specific to the mission at hand. John didn’t necessarily mind it; he had gone out of the Earth’s atmosphere to avoid the overzealousness of his brothers after all; but the quietness was starting to become eerie. Scott had given him some garbled nonsense about Penelope and Gordon breaking up, which had been confirmed as not nonsense at all by his father later that day. Or evening. Night, possibly; honestly, John was due to come down from orbit soon, and at this point in his rotation time blurred together.

A little while later, after food and a nap and a game of chess with EOS to keep her entertained and stop her from delving into the databases of other nearby satellites, Scott and Virgil had called again, at a loss as to how to help Gordon. John was perplexed as to why they would come to him for ideas. John helped with logic and physical crises, not emotional ones. They would have been much better going to Alan or Grandma, rather than the person who has a self-created AI programme as one of his closest companions.

But the other person in this equation was Penelope, who was John’s second closest companion outside of his family, so Scott and Virgil had come to him and now he had to find out what, exactly, was going on.

John sighed. His brothers could be so meddlesome, and they somehow always managed to involve him in these schemes.

So here he was, three days and five rescues later, calling Penelope. The call was answered almost immediately, but John had guessed it would be. It was seven in the evening in London- John had checked especially- and Penelope was predictably prompt and business-like in her answer.

“Good evening John. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“Hello, Penelope. Just checking in.”

“John, in the many years I’ve known you, you never call without a purpose. I’m assuming the purpose this time is regarding myself and your brother?”

“What happened? Gordon won’t say anything and the others are clueless. What did Gordon do?”

“Gordon didn’t do anything. This wasn’t his fault.” Penelope’s tone was sharp and John frowned, brotherly indignation warring with logical curiosity. The curiosity won.

“What’s going on then? There’s no way he broke up with you, and if he’s not committed any transgression that means something bigger is happening. Unless you don’t actually like him,” John mused, pausing for a moment. “He can be a little obnoxious at times.” That prompted a weak chuckled from Penelope, who shook her head.

“No, it’s definitely not that.” A pause. “John, I’ll tell you what’s happening, but it’s serious. The people I’m investigating… I have to be sure that this is a secure line.”

“Dangerous?” John asked, as EOS increased the encryption without being asked.

“Extremely.”

“Fire away.”

Penelope stopped again, this time raising a delicate teacup to her lips. John fought against rolling his eyes; Penelope had always seemed to want to singlehandedly reinforce the stereotype of British tea-drinking.

“What do you know of Pine Industries?”

John frowned. “They’re a commercial air flight corporation, no?” His eyes flickered to the left and his fingers danced through the air as he moved through different pieces of information EOS has brought up for him. “They design aircraft for commercial purposes, medium sized company, owned by a Mr Jeremy Grove… this is the company you’re looking into? There don’t seem to be any instances of foul play.”

“Mr Grove doesn’t just own Pine Industries, though. He also owns Onslow Tech.”

“Never heard of them.”

“No, well you most likely wouldn’t have. Their line of business suits discretion. They develop and distribute various forms of weapons, and they’re not fussy who they sell to. Terrorist groups, insurgencies… anyone who can destabilise a government, basically.”

“But why? Do they have a specific goal?”

“As far as I’m aware, the goal is to tip the planet into another war. The GDF was created out of the Global Conflict of the 40s. Since then, the world has been relatively peaceful. That’s good news for the majority of the planet, but not for Onslow Tech.”

“No, I guess not. So they’re trying to organise a war to sell weapons? That’s-”

“Sick? Yes. Unfortunately, it’s also the way the world works. Look at Scott’s friend, Marion Van Arkle. She was quite willing to sell uranium on the black market to keep her family’s business alive. Jeremy Grove has less morals than her, he has no qualms about destabilising State governments or the GDF to make more profit.”

“I’m guessing he wouldn’t care about which side he sells to either.”

“No, and these weapons are particularly nasty. There could be catastrophic damage if he isn’t stopped.”

“And how close are you to stopping him?” Penelope grinned, all teeth, and John didn’t need her next sentence for confirmation.

“Extremely. Unfortunately, the closer I get to him the closer he gets to me, and the more dangerous he becomes.”

“Hence breaking up with Gordon.” John sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he processed the information and tried to come up with alternatives. Penelope waited patiently for him to finish. There weren’t really any alternatives, save for keeping Gordon confined to the Island, which just wouldn’t happen. It had been bad enough when he had been injured by the Chaos Crew and subsequently grounded for two months. There was almost no way Gordon would agree to stay put indefinitely, especially if he thought Penelope was in danger.

“Kayo knows,” John said eventually, opening his eyes again and dropping his hand. It was a statement, not a question, but Penelope nodded all the same. “And Dad?”

“He knows what he needs to. I would appreciate it if you didn’t divulge this conversation to him or your brothers though.”

“That would be counter-productive, although they are expecting some kind of response.”

“Well they don’t need one. I know you Tracys are exceedingly stubborn and too curious for your own good, but there's no way you can tell your brothers anything other than that I’m unlikely to change my mind on this.”

“Okay, point taken. I won’t tell them anything. But do you need any help? What exactly is your plan here?”

John watched as Penelope stared at her tea, deliberating. He knew that her accepting his help was a long shot; for all she collaborated with International Rescue, Penelope was fundamentally a lone worker and always had been. It was the reason that they had been able to maintain a friendship at university after all. For all her social prowess, when it came to studying John was her preferred buddy simply because she could study, uninterrupted, for three hours before the redhead even noticed she was there. It worked wonders for productivity.

“I’m moving into the surveillance stage,” Penelope said finally, looking up again. “I’ve researched the company inside and out, but I need to collect hard evidence now that Grove is actually breaking the law. You know the GDF; you can deliver the criminal to them all wrapped up with a bow, but unless you have enough evidence to close down any legal loop-hole, they won’t go for a prosecution, which is what we need.”

“Surveillance, hm? Need me to put any tabs on him or trace him through CCTV cameras? I could hack his phone and emails if you want.”

Penelope thought for a moment and when she did reply her tone was measured, as if she was unsure of her own answer. “You have better access to more systems to tail him with, but John, please, be careful. If I tell you to stop, then stop. If you get any hint of a threat, then step away and leave it alone. I wasn’t joking when I said that Grove is a dangerous man, and he’s not the only one with interests in this area.”

“I understand. If he gets locked away, then the people he’s arming lose their supply. Don’t worry, Penelope. I’ll be careful.” Penelope’s lips quirked up into a small smile.

“I know. Surveillance only though, okay?”

“FAB.” An alarm sounded, and John’s focus drifted over to the source of the noise, face grimacing. “Duty calls.”

“I’ll be in touch soon,” Penelope promised, and the call disconnected, leaving John to drift over to the source of the alarm and begin to, once again, coordinate a rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to post this earlier when the chapter I'm currently working on is finished, but I've been struggling with that one a lot so thought I would post this before it gets too late. Huge thank you to willow-salix over on tumblr for reading through both this chapter and helping me with the one I am currently writing. Hope you enjoyed it :)


	4. Chapter 4

The following days had been weird for all of the Tracy family. Gordon had retreated to his room as soon as he and Scott had made it back from the mainland, and hadn’t exited for an entire day. Various family members had gone into the room to check on him, but only Jeff had made the effort to talk to the lump under the duvet in the middle of the bed. Gordon had emerged as a reward for his father’s efforts, eyes puffy and hair tousled, but the talk hadn’t lasted that long and Jeff had left his second youngest to his blanket burrito.

Gordon’s moping had been interrupted by John and the klaxon and rescues, a huge storm over the Atlantic threatening a cargo ship. It had been a long, difficult and exhausting rescue, Virgil and Gordon returning back to Tracy Island soaking wet and snappish. It had been late and after settling Thunderbirds Two and Four back into their respective hangars, both boys had trudged up the stairs for a shower and then to collapse into bed. There had been several missions since then and Gordon had been glad for the distraction. He knew that his brothers were worried about him, but he honestly did not have the emotional energy for his usual chatter. The missions were their usual mix of high adrenaline and unpredictable twists, requiring a certain focus that was enough to banish any thoughts of a certain Penelope Creighton-Ward from Gordon’s mind.

This rescue though was not doing anything to improve Gordon’s mood. It was a factory fire, combining Gordon’s two least favourite types of rescue into one. Gordon hated fires and he hated tight spaces other than that of his beloved Thunderbird Four, which hardly counted anyway as is allowed him to traverse the vast expanse of the oceans rather than a stuffy suit that was prickly with heat and simply let him tramp through endless, twisting corridors as he made his way deeper inside the smoke-filled building to get to the trapped workers in the centre of the factory whilst Virgil evacuated the east wing and tried to stop the fire from spreading to any other buildings.

“Gordon. You need to take the next left and continue straight ahead. The trapped workers are in the control room at the other end of the lab, but you need to take care.” John’s clipped voice crackled through Gordon’s comms, visuals having been abandoned early into the rescue as it became clear that the smoke was too thick.

“Lab? I thought this was a factory?”

“They may be manufacturing chemicals, it’s not unusual,” John explained distractedly. “Focus, Gordon. If the fire gets to the lab, then it’s likely to explode.”

“FAB,” Gordon muttered, following the directions and opening a thick, metal door into a dark lav. The smoke hadn’t reached this part yet, likely due to the reinforced door he had just gone through, and Gordon could see various abandoned workbenches in the dim light, the building’s emergency lighting casting a zombie green glow over the room. Gordon ignored the benches, running as fast as his bulky suit would let him to the door on the other side of the lab. There was an electronic key pad on the side of the door, and Gordon sighed in frustration.

“John, the door’s on an electronic lock.”

“All the electrics are down. You’ll either have to see if the door is still locked, or cut it open with your laser. Either way, you need to hurry, there’s only so long Virgil can try and keep the fire back with the sonic blasters.”

John’s voice disappeared and Gordon pulled on the handle of the door, which remained stubbornly locked. Gordon growled, directing his laser at the door instead.

A few, painstakingly slow, minutes later the door fell from its hinges and the three trapped workers peered at Gordon hopefully. Gordon did his best to rearrange his facial features into an approximation of a reassuring smile, injecting a false cheeriness into his voice that he most certainly did not feel.

“Hey guys, International Rescue here. Ready to go?”

“Hell yes,” said one of the workers and Gordon mentally dubbed her as ‘Leader’.

“Alright then. Form an orderly queue and follow me.”

Gordon ducked out from the room again, stepping aside as the workers scrambled through the hole that used to be the door. All four of them ran to the door, and Gordon activated his comms to John again.

“I have them all, is it safe to exit the lab?”

“FAB Gordon, but you’ll have to go the long way round this time. Turn left, follow the corridor to the end and turn left again. The emergency exit will be right ahead of you at the other end of that corridor.”

Gordon acknowledged the instructions before turning back to the rescuees. “Okay, guys, follow me.” He wrenched the door to the lab open again and once more started running in the opposite direction to his original approach. The air was getting thicker with smoke and sweat trickled down his back on the inside of his suit. He and his entourage rounded another corner, the emergency exit sign providing a faint luminescence at the end of the corridor, when John’s voice popped into Gordon’s ear again.

“Gordon, you need to get out now. The fire has reached the lab.”

No sooner had John finished saying those words, a cry was heard behind him. Gordon turned and saw the worker he had dubbed Leader stumble, falling to the ground.

“Keep going!” Grodon shouted at the other two, who had stalled, and they jumped at his barked order before continuing to sprint towards the exit. Gordon stooped to pull the fallen rescuee up, putting an arm around her and half dragging her to the exit. They burst through the door into the fresh air, clearing about a metre from the building before there was an enormous explosion which split through the air.

The heat was intense and Gordon scrambled across the grass towards the safety of Thunderbird Two. Virgil hurried over, assessing him and the rescuees for injuries, but apart from some minor burns on Eva- so that was Leader’s name- there was not much to be done by way of first aid.

“They need us to help put out the rest of the fire?” Gordon asked once he had caught his breath, heaving himself to his feet. Virgil shook his head.

“No, the fire service is going to just blanket the place with a powder extinguisher now. The sound blaster has made sure it’s not going to spread, although I need to speak to Alan about his playlists.” Virgil’s mouth twisted into the expression he normally wore when he had discovered that someone had messed with his Thunderbird, but Gordon ignored it and turned back towards the burning building. A few moments later white powder seemed to explode over it from nowhere, blanketing the building and smothering the flames. Gordon took his helmet off thankfully, wiping at the grime and sweat that had accumulated on his forehead whilst heading to the cockpit of Thunderbird 2.

***

It was a short while later, as the two of them cruised over the ocean on their way back home, that Gordon remembered his earlier confusion.

“The place had a lab. Like, a chemical one,” he said suddenly, and Virgil frowned. “It’s weird, right?”

“...Well, they may have been using it for research and development purposes. It’s not unheard of,” Virgil suggested, but his voice lacked conviction.

“A chemical lab? In a commercial air flight company?” Gordon managed to convey maximum scepticism, and Virgil prayed that he wasn’t about to start going on about his conspiracy theories again. Buddie and Ellie were bad influences.

“I don’t know, Gordon. If you’re worried about it, we can always ask L- Kayo or John to look into it.” Virgil looked sideways at Gordon, worried his younger brother had picked up on his near slip, but Gordon just looked pensive, considering Virgil’s suggestions, before reaching for his comms.

“Hey, Kayo. Have we ever dealt with Pine Industries before?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun! Sorry this is a couple of days later than normal, I had some serious trouble with a future chapter and I'm rapidly catching up on myself. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	5. Chapter 5

“Gordon is asking about Pine Industries.” Kayo was always direct, but this particular statement was said as soon as the door to the manor had closed, without so much as a hello.

“Bugger,” came Penelope’s equally blunt reply, setting down a wriggling Sherbert on to the floor. The pug padded away, claws ticking on the tile floor, and Penelope started to head up the grand staircase opposite the front door. “Why?”

“He and Virgil had a rescue at one of the factories and the presence of a chemistry lab piqued his interest. Now he’s asking questions.”

“Double bugger. This whole… situation will be pointless if he finds out about them anyway. Who has he been asking?” Penelope asked, leading Kayo to a drawing room and settling down on one of two straight backed chairs sandwiching a small round table. Kayo followed suit and Parker appeared out of nowhere, carrying a tea laden silver tray and settling it down between them. Kayo waited for Penelope to finish pouring before continuing.

“Just me and Virgil so far, but if either Scott or Alan find out then we’re really doomed. At least Virgil is likely to just chalk it up to a conspiracy theory and not pay it much attention. Alan will just fuel him on to investigate and Scott is too unpredictable, he could go either way.”

“Yes, it has all become rather messy, hasn’t it.” Penelope paused as she considered her next words. “What did you tell him, in the end?”

“Nothing much. Just that I didn’t think it was that suspicious, many factories have research and development facilities, but I could look into it if he was that worried. Honestly, knowing Gordon he’ll have forgotten all about it by the time he gets back to Tracy Island. He’s busy enough at the moment, given that it’s hurricane season.”

“Of course. I was rather surprised by how quickly John was able to come back with Grove’s movements.”

“John?!” Kayo asked, alarmed. “You didn’t tell me that he was actually involved in the operation.”

“He offered, and honestly it would have been too risky to tell you over comms. He was careful, Kayo. This is John, you don’t need to worry.” There was a beat of silence, but then Kayo deflated, ducking her head in acquiescence.

“Fine. What did he find?”

“Well, Mr Grove is attending a gala this weekend. That should provide us with the perfect opportunity to get the information we need.”

“The programme is ready?”

“Yes. Parker and I tested it this morning.”

“Very well. I’ll need to borrow a dress,” Kayo warned, and Penelope smiled.

“That won’t be a problem. I can provide you with everything you’ll need.”

“And no shopping trip?” Kayo probed. Penelope rolled her eyes.

“Why, Kayo, anyone would think you didn’t enjoy our shopping trips. No, this time I should be able to conjure up something appropriate.”

“Alright then. I’ll see you Saturday.”

“See you Saturday.”

***

Thousands of miles away from the Creighton-Ward Manor, Gordon had flopped on the edge of the small wooden jetty that led from Tracy Island’s single beach to the sea, foot dangling over the edge and into the water. His- admittedly brief- research into Pine Industries hadn’t thrown up much beyond what he already knew and Kayo hadn’t seemed particularly bothered by his findings. He had given up on pursuing it for now, and had almost successfully pushed it from his mind.

But, and there was always a but, something was niggling at the back of his brain. His brothers sometimes teased him for his so-called ‘squid sense’, but out of the five of them it was accepted that Gordon was the most intuitive, and more often than not these nigglings proved to be correct, justifying whatever Gordon’s response was to the issue. Right now, it was saying that there was something off about the lab, and that it was exactly the sort of thing that he would ordinarily bring to the attention of Lady Penelope.

God, but he missed her.

And that, right there, was the problem. He missed her so much that it was hard to breathe sometimes; the way she always seemed to be able to cut through any façade of his, automatically calming his emotions and thoughts with a simple quirk of the lips. During the early days of his recovery following the incident with the Chaos Crew, Penelope had called everyday, sometimes soothing his fears and terrors, or encouraging him when his physiotherapy didn’t progress as fast as he would have liked, or even just sitting in silence during the very early days as Gordon drifted in and out of awareness due to the strength of his painkillers. Even after he was back on duty and helping with the preparations for the Zero-XL and mission to rescue his father, they had still managed to squeeze in time for calls, conversations snatched late at night or in the early hours of the morning. Penelope and Parker had arrived the day before the launch of the mammoth craft and she and Gordon had spent the night together, lost in each other until Gordon had to go. After that the relationship had solidified and been formalised, the two of them flying over continents to see each other when time and schedules permitted, falling into a comfortable pattern of love and longing.

Or at least, Gordon thought they had fallen into such a pattern, until it had come to a screeching halt that fateful Thursday evening a couple of weeks before. Gordon didn’t know why the fact that it had been a Thursday stuck in his brain; the fixed point of the fact had been the first thing his brain had been able to process. The rest were just formed from snatches of crystal clear memory; _Gordon, this isn’t working_ ; _we are being naïve_ ; and the last, but worst, _I’m leaving. Goodbye, Gordon_.

Gordon kicked one of his legs out with a splash, water droplets rising high in the air and glittering in the evening sun. He sensed someone make their way down the jetty and settle down heavily beside him, and Gordon could smell the unique scent of his father, a mixture of cigar smoke, paint and the musk of his cologne that he had worn ever since Lucille had given him a bottle one Christmas before even Scott had been born, a scent that had been missing from Gordon’s life for too long. Gordon leant his head on Jeff’s shoulder and Jeff ran his fingers through Gordon’s hair, marvelling in the softness of it despite the exposure to chlorine and sea salt that came with Gordon’s insatiable desire to swim.

“I miss her,” Gordon said eventually, voice small. He wiped at his cheek angrily, and Jeff hummed, hand slipping from his second youngest’s hair to wrap around his shoulders instead, and rested his chin on the crown of Gordon’s head.

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had way too much fun thinking about which swear words Penelope would say. In the end I based her on a family friend.
> 
> This chapter is kind of a filler I guess, and Gordon highjacked it in the second half, but it's actually one of my favourites. This is closer to the original idea I had for the story anyway, before it decided it wanted to be about espionage. Also, a lot of what I write is inspired by songs and for Gordon's section I had This Time Around by Tove Lo playing on a loop.
> 
> Thanks for all the love been shown to this story so far :)


	6. Chapter Six

Saturday came fast, the rest of the week dissolving into meticulously formed plans and fine-tuning technology. Kayo arrived at the Creighton-Ward Manor early in the afternoon to give her, Penelope and Parker enough time to run through the plan and to get ready for the gala itself. True to her word, Penelope had let Kayo have free reign of her wardrobe, and Kayo had somewhat predictably picked an outfit that prioritised functionality over fashion. Penelope had frowned at the silky black jumpsuit, not even remembering purchasing the item, but had said nothing. After all, it was Penelope who was supposed to be attracting the attention that evening, not Kayo, and the midnight blue gown she had chosen certainly made the impact they needed.

Penelope had left Kayo to get ready in peace, disappearing through the discrete door next to her dressing table that Kayo knew for a fact led to a tiny room full of all kinds of useful gadgets. Kayo had seen inside the room once, and even then hadn’t been allowed to cross the threshold, but she had still witnessed the treasures that lay within and had been mildly jealous. Only mildly, though; Thunderbird Shadow still beat anything Penelope had, even if Parker disagreed, holding that FAB1 was better during their occasional alcohol fuelled poker sessions with John when the astronaut was on forced leave. John, who always won these games- mostly due to always being the only sober one- thought that both of them were ridiculous. Thunderbird Five was obviously the superior craft.

The door opened and Penelope glided out, hands full with gadgetry. She placed them on the dressing table, turning to the mirror so she could fix in an earpiece.

“I thought silver would match best,” she said, gesturing carelessly to the pile of jewellery next to her. “There’s a watch to replace your own comms, although it’s a bit basic compared to what you’re normally used to, and an earpiece as promised.”

“Thank you,” Kayo replied, striding over and fixing the watch around her wrist. It was lighter than her regular comms, but there was comfort in having something on her wrist.

“You’re welcome. We should probably get going though, Parker will have a fit if he has to wait any longer.”

Kayo snorted disbelievingly as she followed Penelope out of the room, finding it unlikely that Parker would have a fit over Penelope’s time-keeping skills, but conversation between the two of them ceased as they made their journey. Both Kayo and Penelope knew the plan, had discussed it at length already, and were now simply mentally preparing for the mission ahead. Parker wove through the London traffic, the streets of the mega city full even at this time of the evening, lights gleaming through the gloom. All too soon he was pulling up in front of the museum that the gala was being held in, jumping out to hold the door open. Penelope stepped out, dropping the skirt to her dress and sailing up the plush carpet that covered the stone steps leading up to the entrance, Kayo following behind.

They drifted away from each other once inside, Penelope heading into the throng of people to mingle and Kayo melting away into the shadows at the edges of the room, eyes scanning the crowd as she searched for their target. There was a crackle in her ear from her earpiece before Parker’s voice drifted through.

“The car is secure, m’lady, and I’m in the control room now.”

“Any sign?” Kayo asked discreetly, snagging a glass of something sparkling from a tray as a waiter went past. She took a sip, identifying the drink as sparkling elderflower, her lipstick leaving a faint outline on the rim of the glass.

“Not yet, Miss Kayo. I don’t believe he’s arrived yet though.” Kayo hummed, weaving her way through other guests and waiters until she was on the opposite side of the room to the bar, close to the doors that led to the function room’s kitchens. It was quieter here, easier to see through the mass of people to keep an eye on who was arriving. Placing her glass on the poser table by her elbow, she spotted Penelope, who had a glass of what looked like prosecco but that Kayo knew would not get drunk, not whilst they still had a mission to complete. Penelope looked over, eyes meeting Kayo’s just long enough for Kayo to dip her head in acknowledgement, before turning away to speak to whoever it was clamouring for her attention.

The plan was a simple one. Penelope, with all her charm, graces and social standing, would attract the attention of Jeremy Grove and engage the man in conversation, allowing Kayo to come close enough to activate and transfer a programme that would allow Penelope to finally access all the stored information about Grove’s illegitimate company, including bank records, emails and product designs.

Of course, like all best laid plans, there were opportunities for derailment, and the silky smooth voice from immediately behind Kayo sent an icy shiver down her spine, even as Parker hissed “He’s here!” over the comms.

“You’ve found quite the spot,” said the voice. Kayo turned, and there he was, all angles and sharpness, sipping from a glass of whiskey. Jeremy Grove looked nothing like Kayo had imagined he would in person. Whilst she was expecting the light brown hair and slim build that made him appear to be in his late thirties rather than early forties, the surveillance photos had not managed to adequately convey the coldness in his blue eyes and Kayo was forcibly reminded of a shark. “I do so like being able to see the room at events like this,” he continued, taking another sip of his drink. Kayo caught sight of the muted grey of his smartwatch strap, and she forced a smile on her face.

“As do I.”

“May I buy you a drink?” Grove asked, his continued eye contact becoming unnerving.

“At an open bar?” Kayo asked, eyebrow raising. She could hear Parker passing instructions along to Penelope and hoped she could stall Grove long enough for Penelope to reach them. Grove smiled, all teeth.

“Acquire you a drink, then?”

“I don’t think-”

“I don’t like to be turned down, Miss Kyrano,” Grove said, his smile dropping and the coldness in his eyes hardening. Kayo froze. “And I don’t like puzzles. I did some research when I found out that you would be attending, but I couldn’t find anything about you. So why don’t we be civil and you tell me over a drink at the bar?”

“...I’ll take a rum and coke.”

“Good.” He sauntered through the room over to the bar, Kayo following behind. They were silent as they waited for their drinks, but as soon as the bar-tender slid their glasses over to them and turned to the next guest, Grove fixed his laser stare on Kayo once more.

“So, Miss Kyrano. What brings you to an event such as this?”

“She’s my protege,” cut in Penelope and Kayo took a single sip of her drink in relief. “Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. Pleasure to meet you,” Penelope added, extending her hand. Grove took it, shaking it warily.

“Hello, Lady Creighton-Ward.”

“Please, call me Penelope. I see you’ve already met Miss Kyrano, but has she explained our business to you yet?”

“Business? I thought this was a social function.” Grove rose a single eyebrow, lips quirking into an amused smile, as he extracted his hand. Penelope’s own arm fell casually to her side, slipping the watch over into Kayo’s fingers. Kayo tuned out the small talk as the miniscule piece of technology hiding in her own watch connected to Grove’s, Parker whispering over the comms in her ear to her again.

“Downloading now… wait for it… wait for it… got it.”

Kayo smiled, transferring the watch back into Penelope’s fingers once more and tuning back into the conversation.

“...so you see, she’s been truly making waves in the industry and I thought that this evening would be the perfect opportunity for her to meet some business successes like yourself.”

“Yes, well, these events are good for networking I suppose,” Grove conceded. Penelope reached over to touch his wrist lightly.

“That they are, and speaking of which I must go speak to Mr Hepstow over there, you must excuse me. It was a pleasure to meet you.” Penelope smiled at Grove once more before leaving the conversation, Kayo spotting that the watch was once more on Grove’s wrist. Kayo wondered if Parker could teach her that same trick.

“Well, Miss Kyrano, your work certainly is admirable and I’m sure we’ll be able to arrange some sort of collaboration in the future.” Grove said all of this in Kayo’s direction, but his eyes were focused elsewhere, evidently finished with any conversation with Kayo now that it was evident that it was Penelope who called the shots in their so-called ‘business’.

“Of course. Thank you for the drink, but I must excuse myself.” Picking up her glass from the bar, Kayo ducked out and Grove strode off to speak to some other, suit clad person. Kayo drained her glass on her way over to Penelope, suddenly needing to soothe nerves that were not normally present on missions. Normally, Kayo was calm and collected, wholly focused on the mission with a self-assuredness born from a confidence that she could take her enemy in a fight if needed. Normally, however, her target didn’t know that she was there, and they certainly didn’t know her name. Giving her glass to a passing waiter, Kayo headed out into the marble lobby where Parker was already waiting for her. In the time that it took to collect her jacket from the cloakroom Penelope had arrived and the two of them silently got into FAB1 that Parker had already parked outside the doors. Penelope whipped out her compact, tapping at a few screens that Kayo couldn’t see and wasn’t interested in, before snapping it shut and putting it back into her bag.

“I ordered us some food, those places only ever seem to provide the most inadequate canapes. You do like pasta, Kayo?”

“Yes, I like pasta.”

“That’s perfect then. There’s a little Italian place on the drive home, Parker knows where it is, they’ll have the food waiting for us and then we can review the information we got tonight.”

“Like how he knew my name,” Kayo said, her voice taking a steely tone. Penelope’s expression hardened.

“Yes, exactly like that.”

“Because if he knows my name, then it’s a short leap to knowing my uncle’s name, and if he’s involved then we really do have a problem.”

“We don’t know that the Hood is involved yet,” Penelope reasoned. “Either way though the fact that he does know your name means he’s closer to knowing about our investigation than I would like.” She paused and looked sideways at Kayo. “You know, I would understand it if you want to step back from this investigation, especially from an operational front. Grove is extremely dangerous and can pose quite the threat with his resources, as you saw tonight.”

“I understand that and I appreciate the option, Penelope, but I feel that it may be a little too late to step back now. He already knows who I am, and that I’m connected to you. May as well see this through to the end.”

“...as you wish.” The conversation stalled as Parker pulled up outside the restaurant Penelope had mentioned earlier, disappearing inside before returning with a bulging paper bag that wafted delicious scents. Kayo’s stomach growled as she suddenly realised exactly how hungry she actually was, and it seemed that she wasn’t the only one as Parker drove back to the Creighton-Ward Manor slightly faster than he had done before the stop.

***

A short time later Penelope, Parker and Kayo were sat once more in the former’s workroom, the three bowls they had used to divide up the pasta and garlic bread stacked neatly on the edge of the table. Penelope and Kayo had both changed out of their smart evening outfits and now Kayo dropped the silver watch onto the centre of the desk. Penelope connected it to her compact and suddenly multiple reports sprang up, bathing the room in blue light. She swiped through them, deleting the ones that were not related to the investigation, until she paused, hand hovering in front of the image as she absorbed what she was reading.

“Is that…?” started Kayo, eyes going wide in shock.

“I believe so,” Penelope confirmed. It was the schematics for a weapon, one that would disrupt the gravity field for any satellite in Earth’s orbit that did not have the accompanying code built into its software and disable any of their other functions.

“But that’ll include Thunderbird Five,” Kayo continued, leaning forward to see more of the report.

“It’s worse than that,” Penelope said, voice grim. “It already seems to have a buyer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bitch to write and I owe it all to Willow-salix for helping me out with it, because I was literally pulling my hair out. I am also almost caught up with myself now and recently started a new job which has cut down on my writing time, so I may have to increase the time between updates a little.
> 
> Also, I used to work in events catering as a waitress for... about three years, hence the references to poser tables and the inadequacies of canapes (although if you're able to access left-overs then they can form a light meal after working 17 hours across two jobs). 
> 
> I'll stop rambling now.


	7. Chapter Seven

The expletives that poured from John when they showed him the plans was enough to make even Kayo raise an eyebrow, Jeff’s hologram frowning.

“Wow, John, I didn’t know you knew language like that,” Kayo commented, but John ignored her.

“Do you know how much damage that thing could cause? What it would do to the shipping lanes, the people in the crafts…” John trailed off, uncharacteristic fury clouding his face and rendering him speechless, hand reaching up to rake through his hair in a nervous tic that was only ever revealed when truly stressed. Penelope decided it was time to intercede.

“John, relax. I am not going to allow it to get that far. The GDF have been alerted and are taking precautions. We are working on tracing Grove, but in the meantime Kayo and I have the authorisation to go and disable the weapon. We merely wanted to warn you about the existence of such a weapon,” she added, looking at Jeff. There was a brief pause as the Tracy patriarch absorbed the news.

“You think you can stop it?” Jeff asked finally, hands laying flat and still on his desktop. Penelope nodded. “In which case, John, transfer control of Thunderbird Five’s programmes to Tracy Island. I want you here until we have confirmation that the weapon is no longer a threat.”

John’s mouth formed a thin, angry line, but he muttered an agreement regardless. He may not be happy at the prospect of an indefinite stay on Earth, but he knew better than to contradict a direct order from Jeff, particularly when it stemmed from such logical reasoning.

“You’ll be able to help us anyway,” Penelope cut in, John’s attention returning back to her. “Once we’ve physically destroyed the weapon, we will need you to erase any digital track of the plans so it cannot be rebuilt, whether by Grove- unlikely, given the evidence we have on him- or by another party.”

“But won’t you need a copy for the trial?” John asked, frown turning quizzical.

“No. The evidence we already have is more than enough. These plans are too dangerous to keep in existence.”

“And you’re sure there’s only one of these weapons in existence?” Jeff questioned.

“Positive.” Penelope paused for a moment, fighting the urge to fidget, before pinning Jeff with an intense look. “No word of this is to reach the others, understand? Especially Gordon.”

“Of course, Lady Penelope.”

“Thank you. Kayo and I must go now, we have a lot to prepare.”

“Good luck.” Jeff’s hologram disappeared, as did John’s, and Penelope’s fingers fluttered through files on her compact, eventually pulling up the blueprints for the factory she and Kayo would be raiding. The prints hung over the middle of the desk, casting its artificial blue glow over the whole of the room.

“The weapon is in this room here,” Penelope explained, tapping the map so that a small chamber in the centre of the building lit up. The chamber was small in diameter, but stretched the entire height of the building, a dome covering the top. “It’s designed so it cannot be removed from the building, but rather controlled remotely.”

“That’s a strange way to market something,” Kayo commented, her eyes narrowing.

“I believe it’s to maintain exclusivity. It’s near impossible to recreate it without either the weapon or the schematics, and you know how closely guarded Grove kept those. This way he can keep the price high.”

“I’d also expect that it is more of a one-time use weapon as well,” added Parker, and Penelope nodded.

“Exactly. But it does make it easier for us. Grove’s desire to make such an exclusive product means we don’t have to hunt down other ones.”

“Plus once John has destroyed the schematics and remote operating software, it’ll be impossible to recreate.”

“Precisely, Kayo. Now, the dome is made up of several panels that retract, allowing for the weapon to send out its signal. That’s one of two ways in.”

“Let me guess, the other way is heavily guarded?”

“Extremely. Reinforced doors, intricate locks, CCTV, guards… luckily that’s why we have Parker though.”

“Thank you, m’lady,” Parker said, eyes gleaming the way they only did when there was the prospect of employing the skills acquired during his ‘alleged’ past.

“We will still need to go through the roof, though. This part-” Kayo stretched up to gesture to the top of the weapon “-has to be destroyed, and it will take too long to climb all the way up from the bottom.”

“Agreed. Here’s my proposal. Parker, you and I will go in together via the maintenance door. This corridor here will take us past the control room and through to the base of the central column. Parker should be able to unlock the doors from there, giving me enough time to slip in and set the demolition charges. Parker will also be able to open the dome’s shutters, which will allow you, Kayo, to access the top. Once the charges have been set, Parker and I can escape by the same maintenance door and Kayo via Thunderbird Shadow. Once we give the signal, Kayo can set off the charges. Parker has been doing some… experimentation with our current explosives and the nature of the column should prevent any damage to the structural integrity of the building, but it will still be prudent of us to be away from the building before they are set off.”

“What about the guards?” Kayo asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.

“Don’t worry about that, Miss Kayo. I am well-versed in multiple styles of martial arts.” Parker’s face split into a feral grin.

“And I have one or two tricks up my sleeve as well,” promised Penelope, and Kayo was reminded of exactly how dangerous the Penelope- Parker duo could be when they put their minds to it. There was a core of steel to the both of them, wrapped up in a thick layer of diplomacy and gentility. Kayo was certain that the pair would be able to run the world, if they ever wanted to.

“Well, then. Sounds as if we have a plan.”

***

  
John’s feet were heavy as he stepped away from the space elevator, hand trailing along the wall to keep him steady. He was halfway up to the lounge when Gordon appeared, the dampness to his hair an indication that he had just been in the pool.

“Hey. Dad sent me down to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m alright,” John said, shuffling forwards on wobbly legs. Gordon rolled his eyes.

“Yeah right, and I was born yesterday. C’mon, Scott picked up some food on his way back for once and Grandma won’t let us eat any until you’re upstairs.” Gordon tugged at John’s arm with one hand, the other wrapping around John’s waist and pulling him forwards.

“I can walk, you know,” John commented and Gordon gave a snort of disbelief.

“You’re about as steady as one of Grandma’s overcooked noodles, and I don’t think Virgil’ll appreciate looking after your sorry ass if you trip and fall. He’s had a rough day already.”

“And who’s fault is that?” John prodded. The tips of Gordon’s ears turned slightly pink.

“I didn’t know that it was the last of the coffee. And that he hadn’t had any.”

“But you do know you’re not supposed to drink caffeine.”

“Yeah, well. I needed the boost.” In a flash, Gordon’s teasing demeanour had vanished and John frowned, stopping in the middle of the corridor.

“Why? Haven’t you been sleeping?” he asked, concern lacing his tone. Gordon pulled him forward again.

“Just had a lot on my mind, is all. C’mon, John, I’m starving here. Why’d Dad ask you to come down anyway? Not that we don’t enjoy seeing you, but it seems a little… random.”

“Not that random. Dad keeps nagging about ‘downtime’, and wants to trial out the remote systems anyway.” John sniffed. “He said he’d come up and chase me out with Scott if I didn’t come down. Figured it would be less traumatic if I just followed his orders.” John pushed aside the twinge of guilt at the lie as Gordon gave a bark of laughter.

“Yeah, I can see why you’d want to avoid that. Alright, shower first or food? Have to warn you, if you go for shower first and take more than five minutes, I will not be held responsible for any retaliation that comes your way.”

“Noted. Still want a shower first.” Gordon sighed a long suffering sigh, but dutifully dragged John over to his room, flopping on the bed as John showered and changed. Gordon counted the waves that crashed against the rocks below whilst he waited, and finally John emerged, looking a good deal more refreshed then he had before he had entered the bathroom.

“Six minutes and thirty seven seconds,” commented Gordon as John sat on the end of his bed to pull on some socks, “but I’ll let that slide.”

“How kind.”

“Are you ready yet? Let’s _go_ John, jeez, you’re getting slower and slower in your old age.”

“You’re not that much younger than me, Gordon.”

“But I am still younger.” Gordon helped John down past all the bedrooms and into the main living area, depositing him in his seat at the dining room table where cartons of food and three salivating brothers were waiting. Grandma Tracy came through from the kitchen as Gordon sat down, carrying a huge jug of water, and Jeff followed behind with a stack of plates. The food was quickly dished up and there was silence as the family ate, Grandma dishing up a portion for Brains and setting it aside for whenever the scientist decided to emerge from his lab. John was halfway through his noodles- nothing ever tasted as good as the food he ate when first coming back down from orbit- when Gordon interrupted the silent feeding frenzy, half eaten spring roll in one hand.

“Hey, John, I almost forgot to ask you. Have we ever come across Pine Industries before?”

John froze, a forkful of noodles partway to his mouth. He eyed Gordon sideways and put his fork back down on his plate slowly. Jeff watched the two of them like a hawk from over the rim of his glass.

“No, nothing other than that fire a couple of weeks ago. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just… it’s weird. There’s a chemical laboratory in an aeronautics factory, they’re a tiny company that seems to have a too high profit and no-one’s ever heard of them.”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say here Gordon,” John replied, taking a sip of water.

“I’m saying that there’s something fishy going on!”

Alan snorted into his rice over the word ‘fishy’, but he was ignored by his older brothers.

“Not as far as I can see. Didn’t you already go to Kayo about this?”

“Yeah, she couldn’t find anything, but it doesn’t sit right.”

“Well what do you want me to do about it?” John asked, a headache forming behind his eyes.

“I dunno, help me look into it?” You’re better at navigating computers than I am.”

“Gordon, I have my own work to do.”

“But this is important!”

“No it’s not! Jeez, Gordon, you have to let this go. If Kayo says it’s fine, it’s fine.”

There was a beat of silence. Virgil, Alan and Scott sat staring at their other two brothers, food forgotten. Grandma Tracy had a hand on Gordon’s back to prevent him from jumping up. Jeff was watching intently, ready to intercede if necessary.

“You know something, don’t you?” Gordon said quietly. The blood drained from John’s face so quickly he felt faint and his head pounded.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit!”

“Gordon,” Jeff growled in warning. Grandma Tracy gripped his tee-shirt. Gordon ignored them both, standing up and suddenly seething.

“You and Kayo know something, that’s why you’re really down here. What is it? What are you trying to hide from me?”

“We’re not hiding anything from you Gordon,” John said wearily, pressing the heel of his palm to his eyes to try and dispel some of the pain. “Stop trying to read more into this than there really is.”

“I am not. There’s something going on here that you and Kayo know and probably Pen-” Gordon cut himself off with a choke. John’s hand fell away from his face and rested on the table. “It’s to do with Penny, isn’t it?”

“Gordon-”

“No, fuck you John. If you won’t tell me I’ll find out for myself.” He pushed away from the table and stormed out of the room, ignoring the calls and reprimands from the rest of his family. John’s mouth felt like ash and his stomach churned, appetite lost. He hated confrontations and hated them even more when he knew he was in the wrong.

“Is Gordon right, John?” Alan asked, voice small. John buried his face in his hands.

“It’s dangerous, isn’t it?” said Scott, looking at his father. Jeff sighed.

“Yes. Lady Penelope is dealing with it, so there is no need to worry, but the information is highly classified and not to be divulged. Do not go pestering for answers,” Jeff warned, and Scott nodded, pacified.

“Well. Scott, Alan, Virgil, you three can help me clear up if you’ve finished eating. C’mon, hustle, I’m not getting any younger,” Grandma Tracy announced, chivvying the three of them out of their seats. John remained frozen in his spot, hands blocking out the light as the table was cleared around him and Jeff slipped out to hunt down Gordon.

Eventually, Grandma Tracy slid into the seat next to John, having successfully shooed the rest of his brothers off to their own activities. Silently, she tugged John’s hands away from his face and handed him his migraine medication- which he took from her gratefully- before pulling him sideways into a hug, rubbing gentle circles on his back as John rested his head on her shoulder.

“It’ll be okay, John. He’s just hurting and taking it out on you.”

“I can’t tell him what’s going on, Grandma,” John mumbled, and Grandma Tracy pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“I know. Don’t worry. It’ll work out, these things always do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was another really fun one to write, even though I felt so bad for John at the end. It was also supposed to be posted last night but I almost accidentally deleted it three times so decided to go to bed instead XD
> 
> I do have to note though that next chapter I will be increasing the rating up to M for violence, as it gets a bit darker. It isn't explicit, but if that's something that will make you uncomfortable let me know and I'll give a brief chapter summary (once the next chapter has been posted, ofc).


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't normally like doing notes at the start of the chapter, but for this chapter I wanted to give the warning that the rating has gone up to M for violence (although most of it implied). If you're worried and don't want to read that, let me know and I'll give a chapter a summary so you can skip this chapter if you need to. I'm over on tumblr as hodgehegposts.

It was supposed to be simple, a plan that should have gone off without a hitch. It probably would have done as well, if they had known how aware Grove was of their plans and anticipated a severe retaliation. It wasn’t even a retaliation, it would be more accurate to describe it as a desperate, determined defence of the empire that afforded his comfortable lifestyle, but Penelope was not currently in the position to make such descriptions and it was pointless to think about what should have happened, what Penelope should have accounted for.

Hindsight was twenty-twenty, as they say.

Penelope wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, though. She knew she had planted the explosives, had given Kayo the go ahead to set them off when she had planted hers, and had been halfway back to the control room Parker had taken over when Grove had stepped out of the shadows, shark eyes glinting in the darkness. There hadn’t been time for questions, a strong hand covering her mouth suddenly from behind and a sharp scratch in the side of her neck. She had just enough time to activate the emergency signal on the ring she always wore on a mission, the one that had originally been her mother’s and would alert Parker to abort the mission and get to safety when her world went dark and Penelope went slumping towards the floor.

Penelope woke slowly, her head throbbing and mouth dry. It took a few blinks for the room she had been dumped in to come into focus and she sat up, examining her surroundings. It was a windowless room that was evidently not normally used for false-imprisonment, if the lumpy single mattress shoved unceremoniously in the corner and a rusty folding chair leaning against the wall were anything to go by. Penelope hadn’t been put on the lumpy single mattress, but that wasn’t a detail that was most concerning to her at that moment. What was occupying more of her thought process was what the source of the pounding headache was that was making her thoughts feel fractured and disjointed. She hadn’t felt like this since that fateful night at the end of her university career when she and John had gone out to celebrate the last of her finals and the submission of his doctoral thesis. Penelope had woken up with the worst hangover she had ever experienced. John, the bastard, had let himself into her apartment the next morning entirely too bright and cheerful at her misery, brandishing two cups of coffee and a paper bag of cream cheese bagels. The day had been an absolute write off, full of take-aways and catching up on embarrassing stories Penelope had no recollection of but John assured her had happened.

Penelope would give anything to have John walk through that door with his dry humour and bag of bagels, or better yet Gordon with his sunshine smile and gentle hands that would so carefully take care of whatever it was that was causing Penelope’s head to pound, eyebrows quirking in concern in a way that was different to the way they quirked in amusement.

The door clicked open and Penelope chalked the disappointment that it was not Gordon- or at least John- up to the strange substance that she had been injected with, now that she was starting to remember the scratch in her neck shortly before falling unconscious. Instead, Grove entered the room, followed by a black clothed lackey carrying a second, non-rusty, folding chair. Penelope watched as it was opened and Grove sat down, the lackey moving around the room to open up the rusty one. Belatedly, Penelope realised she was supposed to sit on it, and with as much grace as she could muster she crossed over and sat down. The chair groaned, but nobody commented. Grove smiled his predatory smile, and Penelope tried to gather her wits.

“So. How are we feeling? Not that great, I’m sure, although I’ve not personally felt the effects.”

His voice was smooth and quiet, carrying a self-assuredness that Penelope desperately wanted to knock. She supposed that this was where she was meant to ask what he had given her, or what he intended to do to her, but she had never been one to follow convention. Neither did Gordon, for that matter, and that lack of convention was one of the things that had attracted her to Gordon in the first place.

“Well, I hope you can forgive any social indiscretions then,” Penelope replied sweetly, taking a moment to revel in the surprise on Grove’s face, however brief.

“I’m sure I can extend such a courtesy. As long as you answer my questions.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You don’t want to do that,” Grove replied as the door opened again and another black clad lackey entered. Penelope’s eyes flickered over to the door, but Grove clicked his tongue. “Oh no, Miss Creighton-Ward, you don’t want to think about escaping.”

“It’s Lady, actually. Lady Penelope, to be precise, Lady Creighton-Ward was my mother. Either way, not ‘Miss’.”

“Miss, Lady, I don’t really care. All I want to know is what happened to the schematics.”

“I have no idea,” Penelope replied, only partly lying. Sure, she knew John would destroy the schematics, but John was also a genius at coding and the method with which he destroyed such schematics was likely to be beyond her.

Grove watched her impassively for a moment, before flicking a finger over his shoulder. The second black dressed lackey surged forward at an incredible speed for his bulky size and cracked her across the cheek. Penelope’s head snapped sideways and she felt the sting of split skin and the warm slip slide of blood on her cheek. So that was how it was going to be played.

“I’ll ask again. What happened to the schematics?”

There was a brief silence, and then another crack as the interrogation continued.

***

Penelope’s ring was undoubtedly impressive technology in the espionage world and had been extremely useful for both Penelope and Lady Creighton-Ward in the multitude of missions they had carried out. However, it did rely on the predication that the partner to the ring was able to take action once it had been activated and the signal had been sent out. As a result, when Parker received the signal when Penelope was first captured, there was not much he could do to either escape or, more importantly, rescue Lady Penelope (as per his contract with Lord Creighton-Ward), on account of the guards who were currently busy tying him to a chair and covering his eyes with a blindfold. The bindings were tight and his wrists ached, but that was not his primary focus at the moment. All that Parker was concerned about was whether Lady Penelope was safe and whether he could escape his bindings, distract the guards, find her and rescue her without getting re-captured or exacerbating any potential injuries.

The odds of that didn’t look too good.

That left Kayo to save them, a fact that Parker did not seem to mind too much. Whilst she did not have the same level of devotion to her Ladyship’s well-being that Parker had, she was at least on their side and definitely a force to be reckoned with. Whilst Parker had maybe over-estimated his martial arts prowess in the face of several adversaries, he was still confident that Kayo would be able to escape and raise the alarm for a rescue. Thunderbird Shadow may not be as fast as Thunderbird One, but it was still a fast craft and once the alarm was raised on Tracy Island Parker was willing to bet good money on a certain blonde aquanaut rushing to their aid. Well. Maybe just Lady Penelope’s aid, but Lady Penelope would never just leave Parker, so it counted all the same.

Before Parker could go further down that train of thought, his jaw was forced open and a rough cloth was stuffed into his mouth, preventing any sound from escaping. The bindings that were tying his hands to the chair handles were loosened, but before he could even think to use the sudden slackness to attack his opponents or remove the blindfold, they were bound together again in front of him in a crude, yet effective, imitation of handcuffs. The chain linking his wrists together was pulled away from him and Parker stumbled, shuffling forwards whilst a hand clasped uncomfortably on his shoulder in order to steer him down the corridor. His ears strained, trying to gather some semblance of bearings, but there were no sounds other than the heavy footsteps of workboots on concrete and his own whisper quiet shuffle. The rhythm was broken when he was yanked to a stop, and soon Parker was being shoved and pulled until he was sitting once again, hands still bound together. The blindfold was ripped off and suddenly he was blinking in the bright light, forcing his eyes to adjust. There was an awful, terrible gasp and Penelope came into his vision, eyes impossibly wide and fearful. She struggled against her own restraints, but the effort was futile, her blonde hair falling into her face and mixing in the sticky blood from a wound that made Parker want to spit with fiery rage.

“Now then, Lady Penelope,” Grove cut in, his silky smooth voice dripping with mockery. “What happened to my schematics?”

“No,” breathed Penelope. A guard moved forwards and punched Parker in the abdomen. Parker ignored the blow, staring at Penelope and smiling when she caught his eye. Penelope bit back a sob.

***

Kayo swore so thoroughly and explicitly when she discovered what had happened, it was probably for the best that the earpieces the three of them had been wearing were disabled. Part of Kayo wanted to go charging after Parker and Penelope, but without intel as to how many guards there were, what they were armed with and where in the maze of the factory they had been taken to, this part of Penelope was forcefully squashed. Instead, she raced back to Thunderbird Shadow, peeling the craft away from the building to hover above it instead, the craft’s camouflaging and cloudbank that seemed to perpetually hang over the English skyline providing enough cover to render her invisible. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her temper and slip back into her usual calm and professional demeanour before activating the comms back to Tracy Island. John answered the call immediately, brow knitting together in concern at the expression on Kayo’s face.

“Is everything okay, Kayo?”

“No. John, I have a situation. Lady Penelope and Parker have been captured.”

There was the sound of shattering glass from behind John and he jumped, turning to see Gordon in the doorway, face white. The peace-offering of iced tea he had brought up to John ran in rivulets along the floor, dampening the cream carpet whilst the smashed glass twinkled in the light of the midday sun, but the mess was ignored by all three of them.

“Pen’s been _what_?”


	9. Chapter Nine

Penelope fidgeted, her bound wrists chafing against each other. Grove had finally grown tired of the questioning, leaving them alone for the first time since their capture and Penelope’s first instinct had been to rush over to check on Parker. She hadn’t been able to, but Parker had lifted his head and smiled at her, a genuine smile of reassurance rather than the pained grimace she had been expecting.

“Are you okay, m’lady?” he had asked, and Penelope had to smile back.

“Of course. Are you?”

“I must confess, I’ve been better, but also worse. I wouldn’t worry, m’lady,” Parker added, and Penelope sighed.

“I had hoped that you’d escaped.”

“I believe Miss Kayo did, m’lady,” Parker responded, ignoring that even if Parker hadn’t been caught he would have gone tearing after Penelope regardless.

“Well that’s certainly a relief.” Her fingers tightened briefly, before the bindings fell slack and she was able to pull her wrists free, holding them up for Parker to see. He nodded in approval.

“Very good, m’lady.”

“I’m afraid it took rather longer than it ought to have done,” Penelope confessed, bending down to address the bindings at her ankles. “Are you in need of assistance?”

Parker grinned, holding his own free hands up. “I must say that this is not the first time I’ve been captured, m’lady.”

“I suppose not. Alright then, now we just need to get out of this horrid building, back to FAB 1, and back home for a well deserved cup of tea.”

“I do like the sound of that.”

“I thought you would. How are your injuries? Anything concerning that I should really know about before we embark on our plan?”

“Mostly superficial, m’lady.”

“Excellent. Let’s take a look at this door then.”

The two of them shuffled gingerly to the door, aches and bruises making themselves known as they did so, and Parker examined the door lock. His mouth twisted in displeasure.

“Is it completely hopeless?” Penelope asked, and Parker shook his head in surprise.

“No m'lady, it’s insultingly easy, no challenge at all. I think he was relying on the bindings.”

“He evidently doesn’t know about your checkered past.”

“Evidently.” There was a click, and Parker pulled the door open ever so slightly. Penelope smiled.

“I don’t normally like us being underestimated, but it seems to have worked to our advantage this time.”

“It would appear so.” Parker peered into the corridor, before opening it wider. Penelope slipped out of the door, Parker behind her, and the two set off down the corridor.

They were making good progress, putting a decent amount of distance between themselves and the door, when they turned a corner and came suddenly face to face with Grove in a hideous reflection of what had led to their original capture. Grove’s face was twisted into a snarl of pure venom, causing him to look inhuman. There were no words, no warning. Grove lunged, fist shooting out and into Penelope’s face. Her head snapped back to connect heavily with the wall, and she dropped to the floor unconscious.

***

Gordon was pacing, hands clasped tightly behind his back as John finished explaining the situation to Jeff and their brothers. John knew that if it wasn’t for the fact that he may be heading out to Penelope’s rescue at any moment, he would have jumped into the pool by now to swim in endless loops. Gordon had always had a limitless amount of energy, a fact that had prompted their mother to take him to the local swimming pool for lessons back when she had been pregnant with Alan to try and wear the young boy out and in order to give her some respite. Nowadays this energy was channelled primarily into rescues, although the pool did remain useful when on Tracy Island. However, neither of these were currently options and Gordon had resolved to pacing around the den, expression carefully schooled so as not to give away his emotion. John hadn’t realised Gordon was even capable of adopting a professional mask, but didn’t have a chance to examine that realisation further because currently he was waiting for a decision to be made as to who would go and rescue Penelope and Parker whilst fielding questions and comments from an ever frantic Kayo.

“Scott, you take Thunderbird One. You’ll be fastest, plus the air-force experience will be a bonus,” Jeff finally announced.

“I’m coming as well,” Gordon cut in, before Scott could acknowledge his father’s orders. Jeff shook his head in disagreement.

“You’re too close to the situation. Scott can go. John, you-”

“I’ve had more experience with this sort of thing than Scott has.”

“You are emotionally compromised and I cannot authorise you to go knowing that.”

Gordon took a deep, steadying breath, fighting to keep calm and rational. John took pity and spoke up from where he was sitting in support of his younger brother.

“I can understand why that would be a concern, but Gordon is right. He does have more experience in these sorts of circumstances than Scott and the more back up the better. The GDF have already been alerted, but you know what they’re like, it will take them forever to actually get the approval to go over there.”

“...Fine. Gordon, you can go, but Scott is the lead on this and you must follow his instructions, am I clear?”

“Crystal.”

“Alright. Thunderbirds are go,” Jeff said with a tone of finality, settling back into his desk chair as Scott and Gordon headed to the chutes that would take them down to the hangars.

***

The two of them were silent as they entered the cockpit to Thunderbird One, Gordon not even commenting when Scott kicked something suspiciously red and boot shaped underneath the control panel. The silence continued as they flew over first the Pacific and then the Atlantic oceans over to the factory in England, Scott concentrating and Gordon brooding. A small part of Gordon was surprised that his father had let him go, but this was drowned out by the larger, all encompassing terror that pre-occupied the rest of his senses. John’s admission earlier, that the primary reason behind Penelope’s break up was to protect Gordon from a psychopathic illegal arms dealer was playing havoc with his brain, made all the worse knowing that she was in trouble. Any anger that he may have had at the way Penny had treated him was drowned out by worry and his leg bounced nervously as he and Scott rocketed through the sky. All too soon, but nowhere near fast enough, Scott was pulling into land in an empty parking lot. Kayo was waiting for them below, pacing across the tarmac. As soon as Scott had settled One and released the cockpit doors Gordon was jumping out, striding over to where Kayo had paused in her back and forth.

“Where is she?” Gordon demanded, voice hard and cold.

“She and Parker are in a factory on the other side of that building. I managed to track them down to the centre of the building, on the far side of that tower,” Kayo replied, pointing towards the distance.

“Okay. You going to show us the way? One of us gets Lady Penelope, the other gets Parker?” Scott suggested, catching up to Kayo and Gordon.

“I’m getting Penny,” Gordon said rather unnecessarily, and Scott just nodded. Kayo’s wrist comms chimed and she poked at it, John’s pale blue avatar popping up.

“The GDF are en route now, ETA ten minutes. They want you to wait for them so that they can make sure to arrest Grove before you go barrelling in and he escapes.”

“Can we at least move into position now, before they get here?” asked Gordon tightly. There was a pause as John relayed the question to whoever was on the GDF end of his other comm line, before returning his attention back to Gordon, Kayo and Scott.

“They say you can, but not to go in and physically retrieve them yet.” John’s arms flittered over unseen controls. “I’ve synced your communications to the GDF, they will give you the signal as to when you can move in.”

“FAB,” Kayo confirmed, and John disappeared. “Follow me,” she said to Scott and Gordon before taking off across the car park. Gordon and Scott hurried after her, twin expressions of cold focus at odds to the usual professional cheerfulness they normally tried to portray when on rescues. This was no ordinary rescue, however, and the regular rules didn’t apply. This was not about reassurance and relief; it was about saving Penelope and Parker, requiring a somewhat clinical and detached approach in order to ensure that no one got hurt further and that they were successful. Scott was quietly impressed with the way in which Gordon was handling his emotions on this mission. OF the five of them, Gordon was the most extroverted, the most likely to wear his heart on his sleeve and Scott hadn’t realised it was possible for Gordon to be able to be able to separate his emotions from the task at hand, perhaps rather unfairly. Although it had been brief, Gordon had still pulled a stint in WASP, which had been the ultimate reason as to why their father had even let him come with Scott on this mission.

Their three pairs of footprints were silent and despite the blue of their uniforms they were able to melt into the shadows. The air thrummed with tension as they crept closer to the side door Kayo had already identified as the best entrance into the factory. There was a pause that almost drove Gordon to distraction whilst they waited for John to confirm that there were no heat signatures on the other side of the door, and then they were slipping through the entrance and into a darkened corridor. They hurried through the factory until they reached a junction, another corridor running at a right angle to the entrance corridor and Kayo lifted her hand, causing Scott and Gordon to stop and cling to the walls. She pointed to the left, where the edge of a doorway could just about be glimpsed, but her silent message was not needed as even from this distance they could hear pained cries and frustrated murmurings from an unfamiliar voice.

They waited with bated breath for the GDF’s signal, and after what seemed to be an eternity Kayo’s fingered flicked into the ‘go’ symbol, Scott and Gordon surging forwards. It had been wise to wait for the GDF, even if it had been agonizing. Despite having the advantage of surprise, Scott and Gordon were undeniably outnumbered. Once Grove’s men had recovered from the shock of International Rescue’s normally carefully concealed cold fury, they had leapt into action. One tackled Gordon to the ground, causing him to bang his head hard enough to see stars but Gordon blinked them away, flipping the assailant over and springing up again before they could realise that a furious aquanaut had sent them sprawling. Gordon darted over to Penny, scanning over the tightly rebound wrists and ankles before using the laser on his uniform to cut them and scooping Penelope into his arms. Her eyes fluttered and she groaned, before blinking into some form of awareness.

“Gordon? What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, he’ll come for you as well and I can’t-”

“Shh,” Gordon murmured, stroking Penelope’s hair and pressing a feather light kiss to her temple. “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

“Parker-”

“Scott’s taking care of him, don’t worry.”

“Grove-”

“Pen, please. The GDF have Grove. Scott has Parker. Kayo is safe as well. Now, will you let me rescue you, or did you want to stay here?”

Penelope smacked his arm with all the force of a feather, before tucking her head against his chest to hide her tiny smile. “I don’t need rescuing.”

“Penny…” Gordon rolled his eyes at her teasing.

“Fine, you can if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Alright then.” He stood up carefully, trying not to jostle any unknown injuries, and carried her out of the room and down the corridors towards the exit, where GDF field medics were waiting for them. Penelope had her eyes closed again by the time they made it outside, but her steady breathing and strong pulse prevented any serious alarm bells being triggered for Gordon.

He placed her gently on the waiting stretcher, having just enough time to brush her hair out of her face before the medics swarmed in and Gordon found himself pushed to the side-lines, feeling slightly hollow as he watched them take off into the sky a moment later. A hand clasped his shoulder and Gordon looked up to see Scott smiling at him.

“She’ll be fine,” Scott reassured, and Gordon nodded woodenly. “C’mon. Bet I can beat them to the hospital.” That did the trick, jolting Gordon out of his sudden melancholy as he snorted.

“You just want to see your girlfriend.” Scott choked.

“She’s not- we’re not- Esme is _not_ my girlfriend,” Scott spluttered. “How did you even know about her?”

“I’m your younger brother. It’s my job to know. ‘Esme’, huh? Is she why you keep going off to the mainland every ten seconds?”

“Unbelievable,” Scott muttered, and the bickering continued as the two of them headed back to where Thunderbird One was parked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is like the third version of this chapter, but the heavy action scenes are over :) I hope you liked it!


	10. Chapter 10

_“...and now, for our main headline tonight, Mr Grove, CEO of Pine Industries has been charged with conspiracy to produce and sell illegal weapons. Mr Grove was arrested last night at one of his factories in England following a report to the GDF about the illegal activities. There have been further reports that two GDF agents investigating Grove had been kidnapped and held hostage at the factory, however the GDF have yet to confirm these claims. Meanwhile, the stock price of Pine Industries has plummeted following Grove’s arrest, threatening hundreds of jobs…”_

The news was switched off with a soft click, Penelope setting the remote back down on top of the cabinet next to her hospital bed. Stretching- and wincing at the tug of her bruises- Penelope reasoned that she would most likely be discharged that day; hopefully after breakfast; definitely after lunch. She would discharge herself if they tried to keep her until dinner time.

Her eyes swept around the room, catching sight of Gordon in the chair next to the bed, fast asleep. There was something about Gordon asleep that was almost hypnotic, the way his face became completely unguarded. It wasn’t always peaceful in its expressions, having seen far too much even before the creation of International Rescue, but it was perhaps the most honest it ever was. Gordon had never been particularly easy to read. Sure, he wasn’t the brick wall that John was when it came to expressing true emotion, but he wasn’t Alan either.

It was probably unfair of Penelope to wake Gordon up when he had clearly spent all night at the hospital and was likely exhausted, but she needed to speak to him and the fact he had spent all night at the hospital had to count for something.

“Gordon?” She reached out and patted him lightly on the arm, snatching her hand away as he jolted awake, ever the light sleeper. Gordon frowned, looking around the small hospital room, before yawning and stretching his arms above his head, finally settling his gaze on Penelope.

“Oh. Um. Hi, Pen. I… I’ll just...” he made to get up, wincing as joints cracked, and Penelope threw a hand out to stop him.

“Gordon, please, stay.”

“Are you sure? I understand if you don’t really want me here. Makes sense that you… it’s okay, I’m gonna go.”

“Gordon, please,” Penelope repeated. “I want you to stay. I want to talk to you.” Gordon’s face closed up, expression inscrutable, and he did not sit down again. Penelope swallowed nervously. “I need to explain what happened, why I had to-”

“Why you had to end things,” Gordon interrupted. “I already know. John told me.”

“What did he tell you?” Penelope’s eyes narrowed slightly and Gordon’s jaw twitched.

“He said that you broke up with me to chase down some international arms dealer, because apparently that’s a completely justified cause to end a relationship.”

“It was too dangerous. If Grove found out about you, he would have come after you.”

“And the best way to deal with that was to end things?”

“I didn’t have a choice, Gordon, he would have used you to get to me and I couldn’t let that happen.”

“And you didn’t think to just tell me instead? You thought it would be better to end our relationship and keep me in the dark about it rather than just say, ‘hey, Gordon, there’s a psychopathic arms dealer megalomaniac on the loose who I am investigating and may come after you, so be careful’? Seriously? Have you already forgotten about the Hood or do you just not trust me to be able to take care of myself?”

“I couldn’t risk it!” Penelope’s composure started to crack, the stress and hurt of the last few weeks coming to the forefront and staining both of their control. Gordon’s arms were folded, his eyes stone hard as he listened to Penelope. “I couldn’t risk anything happening to you, not again. The Chaos Crew-” her voice hitched and she took a deep breath to steady herself. “That time with the Chaos Crew… Gordon, I have never been more frightened in my life than when you were trapped in Thunderbird Four at the bottom of the sea and I didn’t know if you were alive or dead. If that happened again- if I was the cause of it-” a tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly, stuttering to a stop. Before Gordon could reply, or even fully process what Penelope had just confessed, the door opened and a nurse bustled in.

“Good morning, how are you today? I’m just going to perform some checks, if your friend doesn’t mind just waiting outside?”

“It’s fine. I was just going anyway,” Gordon muttered, stumbling out of the room. Penelope watched him go, heart shattering with every step he took, before she fixed a smiling mask on her face and turned back to the nurse.

* * *

Gordon strode away from the hospital room, suddenly desperate to put as much distance between him and Penelope as possible. He wanted to punch something. He wanted to scream. He wanted to swim and never stop. Instead, he fished his ringing phone out of the pocked of the soft grey tracksuit bottoms he had borrowed from Thunderbird One’s emergency clothing supply, answering the call without bothering to check who it was.

“Scott, please tell me you’re nearly here, I gotta get out of this place. I screwed everything up, please, tell me you’re almost landing.”

“Sorry kid, not Scott.”

“Virgil?” asked Gordon, stopping in the middle of the corridor in surprise. A passing nurse tutted at him, pointing at a no mobile phone sign, and Gordon flashed him an apologetic smile before moving on. “Why are you calling? What’s up? Actually never mind, tell Scott to move his ass if he hasn’t set off already, I can’t stay here anymore.”

“Actually I called to say that it’ll be me and Alan picking you up, we thought Lady Penelope and Parker would be more comfortable in FAB1 and only Alan can drive it. Are you okay? What happened?”

“I fucked it all up. I thought… I don’t know. All she was doing was explaining why she had to end things and just… it hurt, you know? It felt like she couldn’t trust me and… well, if there was any chance of us getting back together again I sure as shit blew it.”

There was a crackle down the phone as Virgil sighed and Gordon could _hear_ his eye roll, but when Virgil spoke again it was with the gentle coaxing logic that Virgil always used when dealing with Gordon’s over-reactions.

“Do you want to get back together with her?”

“Of course I do!”

“Then go back and tell her that. In her view she wasn’t distrusting you, she was trying to protect you and you’re not telling me that was a completely selfish act and she wasn’t as cut up about it as you are. You know Lady Penelope better than I do, do you honestly think she hadn’t considered all the possibilities before coming up with this conclusion?”

“No, but-”

“There aren’t really any ‘buts’ to this, Gordon. If she thought that mutual heartache was better than you getting hurt by this guy, then she was probably right about the danger level, and I’m inclined to go with her judgement on that given the whole kidnapping and interrogation that she and Parker went through.”

“I guess.”

“You know I’m right. Also, are you honestly telling me you wouldn’t have gone off after her if she had told you? Look at your reaction after that factory fire. I hope you’ve apologised to John, by the way.”

“Of course I have, although I don’t see why he got to know and I wasn’t allowed.”

“Don’t be petty, it doesn’t suit you. John needed to know for his safety, much like you needed to not know for _your_ safety. Look, ultimately this is a decision only you and Penelope can make, but I reckon if you go back now the two of you can fix things.”

“I s’pose.” There was a pause as Gordon kicked a stone away from the bench he had fallen onto outside during Virgil’s attempt at talking sense into him. “I made her cry, Virg. Penny never cries.”

“Then go and apologise, dumbass. It’s probably not as dire as you’re making it out to be, you can be pretty dramatic when you want.” Gordon couldn’t help but chuckle weakly at that.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay. You really think I have a shot?”

“Gordon, you stayed all night with her at the hospital. You faced down Dad to go and rescue her. She risked your angsty wrath to protect you, and she’s fished you out of the sea before now. If you don’t go back and work things out I will personally knock both your heads together.”

“Alright, I’m going. No need to threaten violence.”

“Good. I’ll get Alan to text you when we’re five minutes out, but we should be there in about half an hour, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“No problem.” The call disconnected and Gordon took a shaky breath, getting to his feet and heading back inside.

* * *

Penelope looked up at the soft knock at the door, confused as to who it could be, when Gordon appeared in the frame looking somewhat sheepish.

“Can I come in?” he asked, and Penelope nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet. He shuffled in, standing slightly awkwardly just out of arm’s reach. “I… I’m sorry, Pen. About earlier. I shouldn’t have yelled or made you cry… man, I hate that I made you cry.”

“I think we’re both guilty of that one,” Penelope admitted. “I’m sorry as well, for everything. Just the thought of losing you completely, it was terrifying, how much I love you and how much it would destroy me to lose you like that.” The words tumbled out and Gordon stepped forward, catching her hand in his. The feel of his lips, slightly chapped from all the time he spent outside in the sun, brushing against the back of her hand caused her to look up at him.

“It’s okay, Pen. I’m not going anywhere. Just… don’t do that again, okay?”

“Never,” Penelope agreed, and Gordon ducked his head down to kiss her. It was brief and chaste, and echo of the first kiss she had given him, but it was enough. Penelope smiled as he pulled away, before shifting over in the bed so that he could curl up next to her. Nestling herself securely in his arms, Penelope reached out and turned the holoprojector on again, flicking through the channels and finally settling on a film.

“We only have about twenty minutes, I wouldn’t get too invested,” Gordon warned.

“Until what?”

“Until Virgil and Alan arrive at your place and Alan brings FAB1 over. We’re busting you out.”

“And Parker, I hope.”

“Sure, and Parker.”

“Well then. Twenty minutes will be fine enough for now. I can tell you what happens in the rest of the film when we get back.” That decided, Penelope leaned up and kissed Gordon again. They may not have entirely followed the route Penelope thought they would to get there, but they were finally back where they were supposed to be.

Together.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finished. I feel like crying just a little bit.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who has read and commented and left kudos and listened to me ramble about it. Special huge thanks to Willow for not only listening to me ramble (a lot) but giving me super amazing tips when I got really stuck.
> 
> I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and the story as a whole. It's been so much fun to write.

**Author's Note:**

> So this story was originally going to be something very different but then my brain decided that it wanted to write something else and it took a life of it's own. This is nothing like anything I've written before, but I'm also kind of loving it, even if I have been super mean to Gordon (I am so sorry).


End file.
